A woman is expected to face a murder charge after Arlington police say she intentionally sprayed gasoline into her backseat, where her boyfriend was sitting, and lit it on fire.
Arlington police said Wednesday that an aggravated assault charge for 24-year-old Breana Johnson will soon be upgraded to murder after being notified her boyfriend, who was set on fire on July 18, has died.
According to investigators, the couple stopped at a gas station on the 1900 block of E. Mayfield Road at about 9 p.m. where witnesses reported hearing the couple arguing and the woman saying, "I'm going to kill you."
The store clerk, meanwhile, told police the woman came inside and bought $.50 worth of gasoline before going back outside. Investigators said another witness saw the woman pump gasoline into the backseat of the Jeep, where the victim was sitting. She then walked around to the driver's side of the vehicle and intentionally ignited it, police said.
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Witnesses said the man, whose name has not yet been released, got out of the vehicle and ran through the parking lot and toward the store attempting to extinguish the flames. Someone grabbed a fire extinguisher and doused the fire while others tried to provide him with first aid.
The man, identified by police only as a 25-year-old male, suffered burns across most of his body and was critically injured. Arlington EMS arrived to treat the man and he was eventually transferred by air ambulance to a burn center.
A witness tried to detain the woman at the gas station but told police she was pushed down as the woman ran out of the store and toward her vehicle. Another witness reported the woman was smiling as she left the gas station.
In the arresting document, police said the victim's sister called 911 earlier in the evening, at about 8:45 p.m., to report the woman was hitting her brother. Police said both the man and woman left that location together by the time officers arrived and they received reports of a man on fire a short time later.
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Arlington police said surveillance video obtained from the gas station corroborated statements from witnesses and an arrest warrant was issued for Johnson on July 19. She was taken into custody that same day and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Police said Wednesday that Johnson's charge will be upgraded to murder. She is currently being held in the Tarrant County Jail on a $50,000 bond. It's not clear if she's obtained an attorney.
Since the victim was pronounced dead at a hospital in Collin County, the Collin County Medical Examiner's Officer will identify him.
